Diary of a Demented Store Owner

Sunday, 28 November 2010

Being totally frustrated at my inability to get a totally unflattering picture of Zenia to announce this month's sale, I succumb to bribery as an inducement. It seems that once she's taken my money, however, that she loses the ability to be embarrassing. So I must apologize for the substandard quality of this month's picture of Zenia., but invite you to see the December Sale which can be found here.

Monday, 22 November 2010

It was a Canadian who discovered kerosene and invented the kerosene lamp. Dr. Abraham Gesner showed off his invention in 1846 on Prince Edward Island (how do you think he figured out where he was? He could finally read the map). He named it by putting the Greek word for wax, keros with the shape of his belly button, ene (not an oute).

Dad said you really never learn to swear until you learn to drive. That's not true- it's when glass cutting with the wrong lubricant. Yes folks, it's true- the type and the quality of lubrication is critical to successful glass cutting.Now, a bit of a discussion as to why you want to use kerosene as a cutter lube:Glass is a strange material- it's not a solid, or a liquid, but a vitreous solution- something exhibiting traits of both and none of either- never mind- read FigHelper # 7 for an explanation, we have to move on. The only thing you need to concern yourself with for the purpose of this discussion here is that the outside skin of glass is in a state of 'tension' (sort of like Mikey's home right now…), holding the middle in 'compression'. When making a score with your glass cutter, the wheel only penetrates the surface of the glass by a mere 1/1000th on an inch (less than that in centimeters…helpful Ed), into the area of tension, but, at the same time it drives a crack well into the deeper compression layer. Using a lubricant will minimize excess surface fractures as your wheel rolls along the glass. A lubricant literally 'oils' the score line reducing surface damage, and as a bonus it reduces the tendency of the score to heal itself (that's Earnest Ainsley's job). The lubricant best suited to this job? Kerosene! Now, while you might be a better person for understanding the principle behind making a score, you're not really any closer to finding out why we want you to use kerosene. After all, why put oil (which kerosene is) on glass that's already clean? This means we'll have to clean the glass before copper foiling people whine. Oh, the horror. Hey, if we analyze the purpose of a lubricant we could theoretically use any liquid (don't go there Ed). After all, it's the presence of a liquid that's important, not the type. Sounds kind of like Deja Moo- the feeling that you've heard this bull before.But why kerosene? Let me illustrate the ways;1) Well, most importantly it is a liquid.2) It "facilitates the smoothest penetration of the glass surface, keeping microscopic chipping to a minimum" according to the experts.3) It's cheap and widely available. 4) Its oil base protects cutters from corrosion unlike many of the synthetic cutter lubricants that make unscrupulous retailers lots of money5) It evaporates almost totally, leaving little residueLet's expand a bit here and discuss the cutter wheel doing all the work. The angle to which the wheel edge is ground is the hone angle. This is an important factor in determining how well the wheel can have and then hold a sharp point. Getting it right with steel is very difficult, as steel does not allow itself to be well sharpened and then almost impossible to keep sharp. To compensate, manufacturers steepen the hone angle to compensate for steel's weakness. Stained glass cutters with steel wheels average 114o to 120o hone angle. The ubiquitous Toyo Supercutter's tungsten carbide wheel uses a wide (135o) hone angle with a very sharp point. Now what does all this highly technical talk about hone angles have to do with cutting glass. Well, it seems that the difference in impact between a steel wheeled (steeper angle- blunt point) cutter and a tungsten carbide (shallow angle- sharp point) one is sort of like dancing with a 250 pound man in open toed (but with wool socks) sandals or with a woman wearing an off the shoulder chiffon red dress and matching stiletto heels. The pressure applied to the glass is directly proportional to the amount of wheel touching the surface of the glass. This is one of the reasons carbide wheels regularly outlast steel by 50-1.That is all.

Friday, 19 November 2010

Coatings By Sandberg has releasing thirteen new patterns they're calling Borderline Patterns™. These are detailed patterns with intricate border colors and are unlike anything on the market today. Each unique pattern has different coloured edges, depending upon the color and pattern of the Dichroic coating.

Investigative staff of Fantasy In Glass' acclaimed journal The FigLeafLet has concrete proof of the demise of Paul McCartney, affirming rumours heard throughout the Sixties. We have documentation proving that he was replaced by an associate- someone with even less talent than the real Paul McCartney (send letters care of Ed, 703 The Queensway, T.O.).Apparently, it was John Lennon's wish to announce the change in the Beatle's lineup with the release of what was to become their last studio recording originally entitled Gary's Pound of Brown after Gary Brown, stained glass instructor to the music industry's rock stars. It seems John, along with George, Paul and Ringo had become disillusioned with the Maharishi and his teachings on transcendental meditation, and looked to stained glass in their quest to find inner peace, harmony and inspiration. It was during the recording sessions for this album that Paul met his unfortunate death when OOCSGS's truck delivery of lead shifted and came crashing through the bathroom window onto Paul while he was indisposed.John wrote 'She Came In Through the Bathroom Window and Carry That Weight in memory of this tragic event.With the imminent release of the now renamed Abbey Road, the need to replace Paul became apparent. Searching no further than their fellow stained glass students a young lad of small frame and poor complexion was chosen, it seems not for his resemblance to Paul, but for his skill at cutting compound angles in flat 1/4" lead. Going by the name of Mikey, his lack of songwriting skills (as Paul) (send letters care of Ed, 703 The Queensway…) were immaterial to the remaining group members.It was at this exact moment that Ringo first coined his famous phrase- “Peace and Lead, Peace and Lead” (see photos above).

1) many of the above sixty or so sheets pictured come on a thin base as well as regular thickness making them particularly handy for jewelry work.

2) the crinklized texture is a surface crazing that is unbelievably cool, but only occurs when fired. It even happens when capped. Go here to see some samples of how it looks or just come n and see it in person!

Toronto, ON- Dan Savus, a housewears department shelf stocker and occassional cashier at Acme Glass, expressed sadness Wednesday over the rapidly approaching end to his reign as Employee of the Month. Fellow employees didn't have the heart to tell Mr. Savus his reign had actually ended three years ago...

... taking delivery of our huge CBS dichroic glass order we almost forgot about the U.S. surcharge we are charged from our OOCSGS. Yes, it's true- our dollar has been within .05 of one percent for a week now yet OOCSGS thinks it's still okay to add on a 2.9%.